Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) design and, more specifically, to magnetic retention of peripheral device for an electronic tablet.
Description of the Related Art
Electronic tablets, also referred to as table computers, are configured with touch screens for user input. Often, in lieu of a mouse or trackpad, a stylus or stylus pen can be used as a pointing device to facilitate user inputs via the touch screen, since touch gestures on a touch screen may lack adequate precision, particularly when the touch screen is relatively small.
For convenience, the stylus for an electronic tablet is typically secured inside or on the tablet when not in use, such as via a mechanism that mechanically engages the stylus and holds the stylus in place in some way. For example, a mechanical snap or spring-loaded ball-bearing or hook may be employed to retain the stylus when not in use. However, over time, such mechanisms wear out or fail, often after a relatively low number of use cycles. For example, a mechanical snap located within a tablet computer for retaining a stylus and/or the mating edge formed on the stylus may wear down to a point at which the stylus falls out of the tablet merely from gravitational forces. Due to the materials and small dimensions associated with such a retaining mechanism, this level of wear may occur after only a few thousand use cycles. Worse, the gradual failure associated with incremental wear can be difficult to detect by a user, until the stylus has fallen out of the tablet computer and is lost.
As the foregoing illustrates, what would be useful is more effective way to retain a stylus or other peripheral device for a tablet computer.